Diamond Tears
by Lady Aurelia
Summary: What if Judai never sent Yubel up to space with his Neo Spacians? The story of GX retold with her presence and set in a different timeline. Elements of 5D's will be present, along with a side helping of some new characters.
1. Lithospheric Mantle—Exam: PASSED

**_Summary:_**_ What if Judai never sent Yubel up to space with his Neo Spacians? The story of GX retold with her presence and set in a different timeline. Elements of 5D's will be present, along with a side helping of some new characters.  
**Rating:** K+ (subject to change)  
**Author's Note:** Hello! Lady Aurelia here with another story. I got this idea in the midst of writing You Can't Turn Back__. I know I shouldn't be starting a new story but this have been bugging for me some time and I've decided to publish it._

_This version of GX is told with Yubel's presence, along with some original characters thrown into the mix. And without Yubel's vengeance (or 'love' for Judai), season three would definitely have to be different. Along with that, since this is set in a different time than the original GX (Synchros and Riding Duels are present in this story), there would definitely have to be new people as well. This story is about 80% original, and the other 20% is what happened in the actual show._

_I will be using the anime version of the card game for duel rules, such as being able to summon a defense position monster face up, and each player starting with 4000 Life Points instead of the real life 8000. Even if I am using the Japanese version of the anime as reference, I will be using the English names of the cards, seeing as I am much more familiar with them. Card effects will also be according to their anime counterparts if there is a difference between the TCG and the anime.  
_

* * *

_**Diamond Tears  
-(Lithospheric Mantle — Exam: PASSED)-  
**_

* * *

Armoured boots pounded the dirt ground as the owner tried their best to keep running. Long, dark hair flowed behind them as they ran against the wind. Their cheeks were already red due to the need of oxygen, and they were panting heavily as they kept going, ignoring their body's pleas to stop.

They couldn't stop. If they did, it would be the end of them.

"Over there!" a voice cried and the figure winced in pain at the scratchy sound. Hurriedly, they hid behind a bush and almost collapsed. The only thing keeping them awake were their self-preservation instincts and the raw adrenaline pumping through their veins.

They took a moment to catch their breath as they greedily gulped in gallons of much-needed air into their lungs. The footsteps of their pursuers faded off into the distance, and they laid there, still for another few moments before they decided to crawl out of their hidey hole. Weakly, they stood up, leaning against the trees for support as they kept panting.

In the dark of the night, black armour glinted in the moonlight. The figure's body was covered head to toe in black armour, and, upon further inspection, could be deemed female with the breast guards and pleated skirt.

She only stayed next to the tree for a moment, before she began her run anew. The woman ran deeper into the forest, carefully avoiding branches and roots as she kept going. Even with her stamina and years of training, she had reached her limit. She had ran for at least seven miles with her armour on, and there was only so much she could take before collapsing in exhaustion.

But she couldn't do that yet. She had to get to safety first before she could get her rest.

The woman slowed to a walk as she neared the center of the forest, and looked up in slight awe at the giant tree that greeted her. Without hesitation, she sprinted towards it, placing her hands on the bark as she hauled herself up. She was up in the branches within a few moments and she collapsed against its rough bark.

"Yggdrasil, world tree," she whispered in between pants of breath. "Love unguided and love misguided, all retreat to the branches of your power for safety. And I ask you extend that kindness to me as well, for there are certain things that should be left unsaid, and yet shouted into the wind all the same."

"My guide," she continued, softly stroking the bark below her fingers, watching as the tree began to glow softly. "My savior. My destination will be for you, and from these twelve dimensions I wish to go—any, as long as I am away from this one."

There were voices in the distance, and she knew she didn't have much time left. Hearing her heart pound loudly in her ears, she gripped the branch tightly and took another breath.

"You who shines upon us like an invisible mother," she spoke, although her words were rushed. The tree was beginning to glow brighter and brighter with her words. "You who protects us like a guardian angel. You, who tries to show us light when the world has become dark."

"I ask of you, Yggdrasil, world tree, careful hand of the ancestors—"

"I see her! She's over here!" a voice growled, and she gasped, but tried not to lose focus as she clung tighter, eyes squeezing shut. She pressed her cheek against the bark, causing it to cut through skin and make her cheek bleed. But she didn't care; she was too scared to. She was numb to the tiny sensation.

"Knock your arrows!" the scratchy voice from before spoke.

"—bestow upon me your kindness in my greatest hour—"

"Aim!"

"—ashes to ashes we will return. But save me from the dust!"

"Fire!"

There was a blinding glow as the arrows were released from their bows, and the world was engulfed in light. The monsters chasing the woman covered their eyes from blinding light, only hoping that the arrows made contact before Yggdrasil worked its magic. As quickly as it came, the light diminished, and the monsters let out a low growl.

The woman was gone.

* * *

**CARD OF THE CHAPTER**

_**Mystic Tomato  
**_ _Level 4**  
**__ATK: 1400 / DEF: 1100  
ATR: DARK / Plant / Effect  
When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon one DARK monster with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck in face-up Attack Position._

* * *

"Oh my God, I'm going to be late!"

A duo-coloured brown and orange headed male ran through the streets of Neo Domino City, effectively avoiding pedestrians in his mad dash to the Kaiba Dome. He shouted half-hearted condolences to the numerous passerby people he may have disturbed, but otherwise never fully stopped to apologize.

"Excuse me! I'm sorry! Coming through!" he shouted, skidding to a rushed stop so that he could turn the corner without going off course. As soon as he started running again, however, he caught sight of a man in front of him. He was a little too late to stop their collision.

"Oof!" he said as he hit the ground on his tailbone and the cards on his duel disk scattered everywhere. "Oh god, my coccyx."

Releasing a small chuckle, the man, who did not fall down from the collision, glanced at the cards that littered the ground. "You're a duelist, aren't you?" he asked, putting a hand over his own deck that was holstered in his belt.

"Yeah! I'm trying to get to the Duel Academia entrance exams," the boy responded, picking up his fallen cards. As he turned around, he blinked and his eyes widened as he realized who the man was. "Wait, aren't you—"

"Here, take this," the man reached into his deck holder and pulled out a card, giving it to the boy in front of him. He took the card and looked at it, before looking back up at the man in confusion. "Something tells me it wants to be with you."

"Ah, thanks, mister Mu—"

"You're welcome and good luck with the exams,"

The boy took another look at the card in his hand, before the watch on his wrist beeped. "_Duel Academia exam ends in ten minutes_," the robotic voice reminded.

"Ah! Hold on, I'm coming, I'm coming! It isn't my fault the train was laaaate!" the boy shouted, pocketing the card before he began his frantic run for the Kaiba Dome again. A transparent winged demon looked on in amusement, half-white, half-blue hair tumbling as she laughed.

* * *

"And now I tune my level two _Geomancer of the Ice Barrier_, my level four _Giga Gagagigo_, and my level three _Mermaid Knight_," a blonde-haired woman said, brandishing her right arm out in a dramatic fashion. "_The ocean, ever changing, signals the beginning of all life. Witness the power of evolution_!"

"Come forth, _Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier_!"

A large hole formed behind the girl as a large dragon began to rise out of it. It had three heads: one of them rose from its torso with a long, dark blue and scaly neck, and the other two came out of the place where arms were supposed to be. All three had a small, yellow gem attached to their steel armoured forehead, and sharp yellow slits that served as eyes. They all looked identical to each other. Its hands produced from the same place the heads did, and from the wrist to elbow were steel guards. Each of its fingertips was covered in steel as well.

The body of the three-headed dragon was covered in sharp, steel armour that faded slowly into dark blue as the colours reached its waist. Its legs were short and small, covered in what seemed to be steel armoured boots. Its feet looked like the one of a chicken's and a long, dark blue tail swept out behind it, ending with a large silver fan shape. Two large steel plated wings spread out from its back, and the underside of them resembled dangling icicles.

_Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier: 2700 (+200 from A Legendary Ocean) ATK / 2000 (+200) DEF_

Up in the stands, a boy with black windswept hair whistled. He wore a white jumpsuit with black lining, and attached to his arm was the standard white duel disk model. "I never thought I'd see such a monster here," he said, mostly to himself.

"I don't think I've ever heard of _Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier_ before," a short, blue-haired boy behind him said. He wore a dark blue standard school uniform for boys and small, circular glasses were perched on his nose.

"Well, there are only a few of its kind out there. It's more of a collector's item than anything else," the black-haired boy responded knowingly as he crossed his arms. "_Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier_ was a tournament prize in Italy a few years back. What we're seeing right now is one of the three copies in the world."

"Woah, that's awesome!" a new voice joined in, and the two blinked before looking behind them. A duo-coloured brown and orange haired boy came up behind them, a large grin on his face.

"And if I may ask who you are?" the black-haired boy asked.

"I'm Judai Yuuki, the next Duel King!" he responded, holding up a 'V' sign with his fingers and smiling.

"Daichi Misawa, pleasure to meet you," the other replied, somewhat amused.

"A-And I'm Sho Marufuji," the short boy added.

"Next, I activate _Trishula_'s special effect!" the blonde-haired girl continued, and the three in the stands focused their attention back on the duel. The large, three-headed dragon began to glow white. "When it is successfully Synchro summoned, I can remove from play one card from your field, your Graveyard, and your hand!"

_Field: A Legendary Ocean (Applicant), Darklord Desire (Proctor), one face down (Proctor), Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier (Applicant)_

"What?" the proctor responded, taking a step backwards as each of the three dragon heads began to roar.

"I remove from play your face down card!" she said, gesturing to the holographic card in his spell and trap card zone. One of the dragon's heads let out a roar. _Mirror Force_ revealed itself before it was destroyed. "Along with _Sunny Pixie_ from your Graveyard, and the middle card from your hand!"

A small fairy with insect-like wings and magneta-coloured hair tied into a long ponytail wearing a yellow and orange jumpsuit appeared, and then cried out as it was whisked away in a yellow light. The proctor discarded the middle card in his hand as the last two dragon heads let out their cries of battle as well.

"Even so, my _Darklord Desire_ still has more attack points than your dragon!" he responded, confident in his life points.

_Darklord Desire: 3000 ATK / 2800 DEF_

_Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier: 2900 ATK / 2200 DEF_

"I've already thought of that," the girl replied, placing a card into the spell and trap card zone on her duel disk. "I activate _Black Pendant_, and equip it to my _Trishula_!"

The green card with a broken red beaded necklace and a dark purple pendant in the center appeared on the field. The item in the card materialized and grew large enough so that it could fasten itself around the central neck of the dragon.

"With this, my _Trishula_ gains 500 ATK Points!" the dark blue dragon roared as the pendant glowed, and the holographic box next to it, which showed its ATK and DEF points, signaled the change by raising the ATK Points by 500.

_Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier: 3400 ATK / 2200 DEF_

_PROCTOR: 1400 LP / APPLICANT: 1000 LP_

"_Trishula_, take down his _Darklord Desire_!"

The dragon roared as all three heads began to open their mouths and charge white balls of light. After a moment, they let out their beams at the same time, all three beams converging for one single, strong beam that headed towards the opponent's monsters.

_Darlord Desire_'s red, feathery wings flapped, and the black armoured humanoid lifted his black shield that had a golden lining to try and deflect the beam. The shield cracked, and _Darklord Desire_ screamed as he was blown into pieces.

_PROCTOR: 1000 LP / APPLICANT: 1000 LP_

"Nice job, applicant, but my life points are still intact," the proctor congratulated and gestured to the silver box beside him that showed his remaining Life Points.

"Trust me, I've done the math," she replied, placing another card into her spell and trap card zone. "I activate the Spell Card, _Ante_! Each player chooses one card from the other's hand, and if the level of my monster is higher than the one picked from yours, then you get dealt 1000 Life Points! If the level of my monster is lower than yours, then _I_ get dealt 1000 Life Points."

"A bit risky, don't you think?"

"That may be so, but I only have one card in my hand," she said, holding up the single card with its back facing the proctor. "And you have two. I'll take my chances—I choose the card on your right!"

Both players revealed their cards at the same time, and the cards that were selected appeared on their master's side of the field.

_Applicant: Ice Queen, level 8 (-1)_

_Proctor: Dancing Fairy, level 4_

"Since your _Dancing Fairy_ is a lower level than my _Ice Queen_, the effect of _Ante_ activates, and you take 1000 points of damage!" she said as the green spell card glowed, and then fired a beam at the proctor. He fell over from the force as the box that counted his Life Points depleted to zero.

_PROCTOR: 0 LP / APPLICANT: 1000 LP_

_Winner: APPLICANT_

"Nice job, new student! Welcome to Duel Academia, Eva del Sarto," the proctor said as he got up and clapped. The blonde-haired girl, now dubbed Eva, nodded in thanks before deactivating her duel disk and turning around to exit the field. The large image of her three-headed dragon faded away along with the underwater background of her field spell.

Eva made her way up the stairs to the stands and took a seat just in front of the trio that had watched her duel. Judai leaned over the rail grinned.

"Hello, Eva-_san_!" he said and she turned around, blinking.

"And you are..?" she asked quizzically.

"Judai Yuuki! I watched your duel, and that was an awesome card you played there!"

"Thank you," she replied, but made no move to continue the conversation. Before she could snap back around, though, Daichi leaned forward slightly. The gears in his head were turning.

"Del Sarto? Of _Sarto Corp_?" he asked and she nodded quickly, nervously wringing her hands together in her lap. "My mother quite likes the clothes your company produces. She's, ah, _hooked_ onto your fashion line."

A small smile teased the corners of her mouth. "My mother is the one who does all the designing," she said, feeling more at ease now that she spoke of family. "Her ideas are amazing, and we're supposed to debut our _Liquid Elegance_ collection this winter."

"I heard," Daichi nodded, though he wasn't as into fashion as his aforementioned mother was. He only knew through her numerous magazines.

"Ah, hey, really?" Judai cut in, still with his broad grin. He pointed to his gray jacket. "My mother bought this for me; she says it's from _Sarto Corp_."

"They _are_ one of the largest producers of clothes in Japan," Daichi provided and Eva nodded. "Speaking of, if your company's headquarters is in Italy, and your surname is Italian, why did you not try out for _North Academy_ in Norway? It's closer."

"I was, um," she fidgeted again, clearly embarrassed. She looked down at her hands. "I failed last year's entrance exams for _North Academy_. I mean, I passed the written test but not my examination duel."

"Would that make you one year our senior?" Sho asked, leaning in and blinking at the blonde-haired female. She nodded.

"I'm sixteen, going on seventeen next year," she responded.

"Awesome! I'm fifteen, going on sixteen next year," Judai added and Daichi and Sho nodded in agreement.

"Please don't tell anyone about this, I, um—" she hurriedly said, looking around for any eavesdroppers. "I've improved since then."

"I can tell. That was a nice victory," Daichi replied. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. What I'm much more curious about is how you got your hands on _Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier_."

"Oh!" she said, glad to have a change of topic. "I bought him from the winner of the tournament that had _Trishula_ as a prize a few years ago. He had no need for it, and sold it for a measly 3,000 euros*."

"How much would that be in yen?" Judai asked. The gears in Daichi's head were already turning as he did the currency conversion.

"That would be approximately 284,100 yen," Daichi supplied.

"I wouldn't call that _measly_," Sho squeaked.

"Have you seen the other offers, though?" Eva asked, a mortified look on her face. "If I hadn't caught him first and offered my price, someone else would have offered him even more. _Trishula_ is worth at least double the amount I paid for him. _Mama_ would not pay for anything more than seven thousand."

Daichi nodded in agreement. "I heard the last _Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier_ card was sold for at least triple the price of what Eva paid," he said. "There's only _three_ copies in the world, after all. And they don't know who has the third one."

There came a period of silence after that as everyone digested the new information. Even Eva, who knew it was rare, did not realize that her _Trishula_ card only had three copies made.

"How did all of you do on your examination duels?" Sho suddenly asked.

"I think I passed mine with high marks," Daich boasted, letting himself wear a smug smile. Sho nervously smiled in reply and Eva was glad for another topic change.

"I'm just glad I got in," Eva said, releasing a sigh she didn't know she was holding. "My mother made me promise that if I failed again I would begin my lessons in Advanced Economics in order to take over the company. I don't like math."

"Same here! On the 'get in' part, I mean," Sho replied, laughing nervously as he scratched the back of his head. He readjusted his glasses when they began to slip off slightly.

"I'll tell you when I finish my duel!" Judai said cheerfully, and the other three looked at him quizzically.

"But I think Eva-san's duel was the last one," Daichi provided.

"_What?_"

"I don't think I will ever get used to honorifics. It's weird," the blonde-haired girl said thoughtfully, drawing her lips into a thin line. "Speaking of which, I didn't get the rest of your names."

"Oh, of course. I'm Daichi Misawa," he supplied, holding his hand out for a shake since that was the Western tradition. Eva gripped it firmly and nodded in greeting as she shook his hand.

"I'm Sho Marufuji," the short blue-haired boy said.

"_Marufuji_? You mean like _Ryo Marufuji_—?" Eva said, clasping her hands together as she looked upon the shorter boy in wonder. Sho nodded in confirmation, putting on a nervous smile since he always seemed to be overshadowed by his brother. "_Dio_! I-I'm so honored to meet you!"

"I, um—"

"_Judai Yuuki, please report to testing field three. I repeat: Judai Yuuki, please report to testing field three for your examination duel_," the intercom interrupted, and Sho sighed in relief. He never did like dealing with the publicity that was being Ryo's younger brother. He was known inside and outside the academy as a prodigy, and had many admirers. It seemed like Eva was one of them.

"Alright! That's my duel," Judai said as he began to excitedly make his way down the steps and onto the testing ground. He turned around and gave the group of three still up there a 'V' sign with his fingers and a large grin. "Watch the next Duel king in action!"

Daichi shook his head bemusedly as Judai turned around to walk to the desired testing field. "His spirit is admirable, but with the opponent he's facing, I don't think he should be this cheerful," he stated and the two other duelists looked in the direction that he was pointing at.

"Isn't that one of the professors?" Sho asked, gripping the edge of the railing as the two began to duel.

"Professor Chronos de Medici," Eva replied, the name rolling off her tongue easily. "He's Italian as well. Why is _he_ dueling an applicant?"

"A professor with a PhD in dueling," Daichi added grimly, crossing his arms again. "Judai-kun is going to need all of the luck he can get."

"You can get a PhD in dueling?" Sho asked incredulously.

"Apparently."

The three turned their attention back to the field where Judai was currently dueling. Judai's side of the field held one defense position _Elemental Hero Avian _and Professor Chronos's side of the field held two _Wicked Tokens_. Daichi drew his lips into a thin line at the sight and shook his head. Eva looked to him questioningly.

"Cards like that shouldn't be in an exam deck," he replied, watching the duel intently. "The professor must be using his own deck."

"_Dios mio_. Why would he do that?" Eva asked.

"Judai must be a really great duelist, then!" Sho added hopefully, though he still held doubts.

* * *

"And now I sacrifice my two _Wicked Tokens_ to summon my ace monster, _Ancient Gear Golem-na no ne_!" Professor Chronos said as he held up the eight-star monster in his hand. The two golden serpents with matching headdresses disappeared from the field.

A giant humanoid machine replaced them. It wore a stone helmet and only one of its glowing red eyes was visible. Its torso lacked a cover, so spinning green cogs greeted Judai's eyes. The monster of a machine towered over the field, its red eyes blinking as it focused on Judai.

_Ancient Gear Golem: 3000 ATK / 3000 DEF_

"Be aware, dropout boy-_no ne_, I have not lost a duel since this card has made it to the field," Chronos said smugly.

"Then that will make it all the better once I beat you!" Judai replied cheerfully, his grin seemingly forever plastered onto his face. Chronos gritted his teeth, annoyed at his carefree behavior.

"Well I'll wipe that smile off your face, dropout boy," he replied, pointing his finger at Judai's _Elemental Hero Avian_. "Take out his measly hero-_na no ne_!"

The green mechanisms in Ancient Gear Golem's torso started turning, and the giant gear machine raised its fist. The fist began to spin rapidly as it neared its target, and the winged hero stood no chance as he exploded into pieces. Judai gritted his teeth and silently told _Elemental Hero Avian_ that he'd make it up to him.

"And my _Ancient Gear Golem_ has a special effect-_no ne_!" Chronos added gleefully. "When my golem attacks a defense position monster, the difference between his attack points and your monster's defense points come out of your life points-_na no ne_!"

_Chronos de Medici: 3000 LP / Judai Yuuki: 2000 LP_

Judai put his arm over his eyes as the resulting dust storm took off 2000 of his Life Points, but he managed to regain his smile even though he was now down to half of his original Life Points. Chronos frowned.

"Awesome effect, but don't count me out yet!" he said, drawing his next card. A small '_kuri, kuri_' greeted him as he realized what card he had just drawn. It was the card that the man he bumped into earlier this morning handed to him: _Winged Kuriboh_. Grinning, he saluted his new partner and added the card to his hand.

"First I summon _Winged Kuriboh_ in attack mode!" he said, placing the card in his monster zone. A brown furball with stubby green arms and legs along with feathery white wings appeared on Judai's side of the field.

_Winged Kuriboh: 300 ATK / 200 DEF_

"Alright, so you pulled out a rare card-_no ne_. It's still a smallfry," Chronos replied, not very impressed.

"Don't call my card a smallfry!" Judai retorted, frowning. He put a card into his magic and trap card zone. "I activate the Spell Card, _Double Summon_! This allows me to normal summon another monster this turn!"

His grin returned as the magic card revealed itself: a woman holding a staff towards the sky as a white beam of light shined down on her. "I summon my _Mystic Tomato_ in attack mode!" Judai said as he put another card onto his monster zone. An orange card revealed itself.

Out came a monster resembling a tomato, except horribly deformed with scars near the green stem and a scary face peered from the front. Its set of razor sharp teeth made most of the onlookers recoil in either fear or disgust. The tomato opened its mouth to reveal its tongue, as if insulting the professor across from him.

_Mystic Tomato: 1400 ATK / 1100 DEF_

"Okay, okay, so you can summon another monster-_na no ne_," Chronos replied, clapping his hands mockingly. "But if won't do you any good."

"Think again! _Winged Kuriboh_, attack his _Ancient Gear Golem_!" Judai said, holding out his hand for a dramatic effect. The small furball puffed up its cheeks and flew towards the giant monster, scratching the iron with its claws.

"Are you giving up already, dropout boy?"

Judai only smiled as the giant golem knocked away the Winged Kuriboh in slight annoyance. The winged furball cried out as it dissolved into thousands of tiny pieces. Chronos knitted his eyebrows together as Judai's life points didn't drop from the attack.

_Chronos de Medici: 3000 LP / Judai Yuuki: 2000 LP_

"Check your equipment, dropout boy-_na no ne_," Chronos said. "It may be malfunctioning."

"Wondering why I didn't lose anything?" Judai replied with a knowing grin. He held up his _Winged Kuriboh_ card for a moment while he explained. "On the turn that Winged Kuriboh is destroyed, all battle damage I take is reduced to zero!"

"So you've saved yourself this turn-_na no ne_," the professor said, rather bored. Judai didn't falter from his position and instead only kept his positive outlook. He discarded the _Winged Kuriboh_ card into his graveyard.

"And now my _Mystic Tomato_ attacks your _Ancient Gear Golem_ as well!"

The tomato lashed out its freakishly long tongue and wrapped it around the golem's foot. He tried to pull, but was not strong enough. The golem bored-ly stomped on the tomato and broke it into pieces as he did with _Winged Kuriboh_.

"And now the effect of my _Mystic Tomato_ activates!" Judai said, holding out his hand. The spirit of the tomato came back and opened its mouth wide, as if waiting for something to enter or come out of it. "When it is destroyed in battle, I can summon any DARK monster with 1500 or less ATK Points from my deck!"

A clawed hand began to reach out of the tomato's mouth, followed by another. A wild mane of half-blue and half-white hair began to peek out as the monster tried to climb its way out of _Mystic Tomato_'s mouth.

"I summon my partner, _Yubel_!"

Finally, _Mystic Tomato_ began to rip into pieces as two large, red-brown demonic wings spread out from the inside. The monster took flight and then landed on the field. It was a humanoid demon with three eyes, and a redish-brownish skin tone. Black spandex covered its body and one arm and one leg was clawed while the other two looked human. The third eye was situated on top of its forehead, and opened vertically. The demon had a sadistic smile on—what seemed to be—_her_ face.

_Yubel: 0 ATK / 0 DEF_

* * *

Back in the stands, the trio watched as the demonic female was summoned to the field. Sho shivered slightly but Eva and Daichi both had imaginary question marks above their heads.

"_Yubel_?" Eva asked, leaning forward in her seat.

"I don't think I've heard of that card, and I know almost every card in existence," Daichi said, biting his lower lip. "Leave it to Judai-san to have some sort of trump card."

"She looks really scary, though," Sho added, shifting his weight from one foot to another nervously at the sight of it.

"Well, part of the game is trying to get into your opponent's mind. If they're scared or frightened, they make mistakes more often," Daichi replied as they focused back on the duel.

* * *

"That monster has no ATK or DEF Points-_na no ne_!" Chronos stated. "What are you planning?"

Judai grinned as Yubel turned around to face him. "_Now show him my special effect_," she said.

"_Yubel _attacks your _Ancient Gear Golem_!" he said and _Yubel_'s eyes glowed gold. _Ancient Gear Golem_'s eyes glowed in response and he raised his fist to prepare for a strike as if Chronos had ordered him to.

"_What are you doing-na no ne?_" the professor asked in shock as his own monster started attacking without provocation.

"And here comes _Yubel_'s special effect!" Judai pumped a fist in the air. The golem's attack almost connected with _Yubel_ before a vine spiraled around her body and blocked it. Another vine was sent towards Professor Chronos. "Any and all Battle Damage I take involving _Yubel_ is rebounded back to you instead!"

"Wait, hold on—" the professor cried, scratching his hair out as the vine got closer and closer. "If my golem has 3000 ATK Points-_no ne_…"

"You take 3000 points of damage!" Judai finished eagerly.

The vine rose from the ground and wrapped around Chronos. An electric shock was sent from the vine wrapped around _Yubel_ to the one wrapped around the professor. Chronos screamed as the current electrocuted him and dropped the rest of his Life Points down to zero.

_Chronos de Medici: 0 LP / Judai Yuuki: 2000 LP_

_WINNER: Judai Yuuki_

"Gotcha!" Judai said as he put his index and middle finger together, both of them pointing at Chronos as the rest of his finger stayed behind. He grinned as the duel disks deactivated and _Yubel_ and _Ancient Gear Golem_ faded away from reality. "That was a great duel!"

"B-But how?" Chronos wailed. "Defeated by a d-d-_dropout boy-na no ne_!"

Daichi, Eva, and Sho cheered loudly from the stands as Judai made his way back up. The newly admitted Duel Academia student gave them all a high-five as each of them congratulated him on a job well done.

"Welcome to the academy, Ichiban-kun," Daichi said, holding out his hand. Judai took it eagerly.

"Ichiban-kun?" he asked.

"Yes, yes. From now on, you will be my rival for number one,"

"Alright then, number two,"

"Let the games begin," they both said.

* * *

**Extended Author's Note and Explanations:**

* - with Duel Monsters being as popular as it is in-universe, one should not be surprised at the price of that card. Seeing as the game pretty much _rules the world_ (figuratively and almost literally), there would of course be prices skyrocketing for certain cards. A _whole freaking highway_ is designed for Riding Duels in 5D's, along with security officers using it as a way to catch criminals. Duel Monsters is a not a _way_ of life, it _is_ life. Added to the fact that it's a Synchro monster with only three copies produced in the whole world (in-universe), the price for _Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier_ is fair.

The price of one Numbers 11: Big Eye costs $80 in real life, no joke. And that's for a_ single_ card. Stardust by itself is almost $20. There was once a time when one copy of Tour Guide From the Underworld cost $200. Now imagine those prices in a universe where the card game is everything. Don't triple those prices—_multiply them by ten_, and _even then_ it would probably not even be _close_.

\ /

I am accepting a few OCs through PM only (you make the format for what you want to send in as info for your character, but I will need a name, gender, background, personality, and deck type; I can make up the appearance if you want). If you submit through review it will be ignored. Your characters will not be playing a big role, but rather may appear for one episode or two as an extra. If I like them enough, maybe even as a side character. I just want to put new characters in to reveal all the possibilities of what could have happened.

It's kinda like Hayato's (Chumley) role in the original GX. He is sort of relevant during the first season, but after recruitment from Industrial Illusions, we hardly see him anymore. Submitted characters will kind of be like this, but, depending on how well I like them, they will either 1) play even less of a role than Hayato (as in showing up for one episode or two never to be seen again) or 2) play a little bit more of a role than Hayato did (side character role in a season, maybe have an episode or two dedicated to them, but immediately reduced to extra with a few appearances after).


	2. 165 KM of Rivalry—Debut, Flame Wingman!

**_Summary:_**_ What if Judai never sent Yubel up to space with his Neo Spacians? The story of GX retold with her presence and set in a different timeline. Elements of 5D's will be present, along with a side helping of some new characters.  
**Rating:** T  
**Author's Note:** And the author updates almost a whole year later. At least this chapter is pretty long? Ahaha... ha..._

* * *

**Diamond Tears  
-(165 KM of Rivalry – Debut, Flame Wingman!)-**

* * *

_Duel Academia is established in a remote island in the Pacific. In preparation for the new semester, which begins in the fall, the students who have passed through the narrow admission gates have been assembled one after another._

_Every student is divided into three ranks based on their grades: "Obelisk Blue" for the students who had superior grades in middle school, "Ra Yellow" for the students who did well on their entrance exams, and "Osiris Red" where students fear for expulsion due to their grades…_

* * *

**CARD OF THE CHAPTER**

_**Elemental Hero Flame Wingman**_  
_Level 6  
ATK: 2100 / DEF: 1200  
ATR: AIR / Warrior / Fusion / Effect  
When this card destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard: Inflict damage to your opponent equal to the ATK of the destroyed monster in the Graveyard._

* * *

If it was one thing that Eva hated ("_Hate_ is such a strong word," she would stress) it was traveling through the air.

The blonde haired Italian scrunched up her nose in disgust as she saw the plane that would take the new students over to Duel Academia. There was only one aircraft, because the amount of students who made it through the entrance exams totaled only to one hundred and ten. Compared to the one thousand plus students hoping to make it in, less than fifteen percent actually squeezed through the admission gates. The rest came from the connecting junior high school.

"Duel Academia students, present your ID as requested when boarding the plane! Anyone without an ID will not be allowed to board! I want a single file line!" a man wearing a black business suit shouted into a megaphone as everyone shifted into a neat line. "If you lost the ID we sent to you, then better luck next year!"

"ID? We had IDs sent to us?" Eva squeaked, coming to the realization that she hadn't gotten anything in the mail resembling an ID card.

"He means these," Daichi supplied, holding up a silver device that had a glass cover which opened like a door. He tapped a few buttons on the screen and brought up a page of information on himself. It included the basics: his name, age, birthdate, height, weight, and an obligatory mug shot.

"Oh!" she replied, a wave of relief washing across her face. Eva rummaged through her purse ("_Coach_," she emphasized) and pulled out her own PDA. Once she had the device loaded, she opened the glass door and tried tapping a few things on the screen. "Uh, how do you do this?"

"Here," Daichi offered as he held out his hand. Eva obediently placed her PDA on it and he tapped a few more things. He held the PDA up for her to see. "You tap the little cog button up here in the corner, and select the word that says 'Profile'. Then it'll open up this."

"Ooooh," she replied dumbly. The PDA was dropped into her hands and she shuffled forward as the line kept moving. "_Mi dispiace_, I'm not used to this. I'm not very technological."

"Really? I wouldn't have guessed,"

"Is that sarcasm?"

"IDs please," the security guard at the front said. Eva quickly held up her PDA and he nodded as she started to ascend the stairs into the plane. She stopped before she reached the entrance.

"Oh, _signore_, is there any way that I can travel any other way than by plane?" she asked.

"You're only allowed to take the boat if you happen to be part of the staff. Sorry, ma'am," the guard replied. Eva sulked and tried a different tactic.

"You know Sarto Corp? One of the largest clothing producers in the world?" she continued, putting on a haughty look. "I've got connections there, and they have connections here. We make your uniforms, you know."

"They do?" Sho asked his taller duo-colour haired companion. Judai simply shrugged.

"They really don't," Daichi said, crossing his arms as he watched the display. "Kaiba Corporation has their own tailoring factories. Sarto Corporation has tried for a partnership before but was rejected."

"You do?" the guard asked, blinking. Eva nodded and smiled as Daichi and Sho fell over in shock.

"Don't you think as a member of Kaiba Corporation he should know this?" Sho asked the black haired student. Daichi rubbed the back of his head and got back up to his feet.

"Well, not all of us can know everything," he replied.

"I'll see what I can do, then," the guard said as he hastily took out his own PDA to contact the rest of the staff. Eva held a 'V' sign in the air and hopped off the steps into the plane. The guard on the other side began admitting the rest of the students while Eva waited.

"Are you going to come with?" Eva asked her new friends, smiling bright.

"Unfortunately, no. I'm not a sea person," Daichi said.

"I'll come with ya!" Judai supplied, his grin ever present on his face.

"I honestly don't know," Sho murmured, looking down at his feet. "But that's implying that the guard _will_ have an alternative for you..."

"Ma'am, there is a separate boat that is available right now since the boat with the teachers have already left," the guard interrupted. Eva cheered as Daichi waved them goodbye and boarded the plane.

"Are you going to join him, Sho-_kun_?" Judai asked as he put his hands behind his head. All in all, he looked extremely relaxed and perfectly fine with the change of travel plans.

"I-I guess I'll stay and follow you, Juudai-_san_!" Sho replied, bowing his head. Judai raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"What are you bowing your head for, Sho-_kun_?" he asked as he blinked. "There's no need to apologize."

"Well, I just feel like I seem to be intruding," Sho said, shuffling his feet.

"Don't worry, you're not-"

"_Adiamo_! If you want to come on you better hurry before it leaves!" Eva shouted from across the harbour. Judai broke from his train of thought and gave her a thumbs up before he began his sprint towards her.

"Hey-! Wait-!" Sho cried as he barely had a moment's notice before he had to break after Judai if he wanted to catch up. "But what about the other students?"

"What about them?" the Italian asked as Sho boarded and fought to keep his balance on the rocking boat.

"Or is this main characters only?"

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen please fasten your seatbelts and turn your chairs into an upright position. We request that all cell phones and electronic devices be turned off as we make our way into the air. Thank you, and have a pleasant flight," the intercom beeped before it turned off with a sound _click_. Daichi took a glance at his seatbelt before settling down in his seat.

A flight attendant walked by and asked if he would need a drink as they took off into the air, but he politely declined. Anything that made its way into his stomach now would surely come back up later. Perhaps he should have taken Eva's offer on the boat, but he suffered even worse on sea. His neighbor, however, had different ideas.

"I'll take a Pepsi! You have those, right?" he asked and the attendant nodded as she left to fetch his order. He grinned ear from ear and flopped back into his seat-Daichi noticed that his neighbor had not decided to clasp his seatbelt on tightly.

"And you won't be sick later?" the honour student asked bemusedly.

"Naw, I've flown lots o' times before!" the other replied as his legs hit the bottom of the seat, which in turn sprang up to form a leg rest. He stared at it for a moment before cheering. "And I'm flying in first class!"

"Kaiba Corporation does pride itself on its service," Daichi continued. "By the way, I'm Daichi Misawa. And you are?"

"No way! _The_ Daichi Misawa? The one who scored the highest on the entrance exams?" he asked incredulously. Daichi only nodded in response. "_Wow_! I'm Jake Cooper, nice ta meet ya! Or, Cooper Jake?"

Daichi laughed. "Your name doesn't sound Japanese,"

"Because I'm American!" Jake said proudly, pounding his chest like a gorilla, except much less obnoxious and without the accompanying growl. The next sentence was spoken in English. "_One hundred percent American_!"

Daichi laughed in amusement and Jake seemed to take his laughter as a good thing as he gave the Japanese teenager a thumbs up. At that time the flight attendant made her way back with a small cup of Pepsi and Jake accepted it with a quick 'Thank you' in English before taking a large gulp.

"The Southern Branch of Duel Academia speaks English, you know," Daichi informed Jake as the other downed his cup of soda.

"I know, but I wanted to go to the best school! I heard that the Central Branch was the best, so I convinced my father to let me come here,"

"Your Japanese is amazing for an American,"

"Haha, thanks. I had to cram in a really fast-paced Japanese course and my father told me that if I didn't score at least an A I couldn't come,"

"You sound like a model student,"

Jake laughed nervously and quickly asked the flight attendant for a refill of his soda. "Not really, I normally don't score that high on anything except sports," he explained. "But Duel Academia has always been my dream, so I worked really hard to pass that course."

"Your spirit is admirable," Daichi revised his previous statement. Feeling a bit brave, he decided to hail the flight attendant as well. "Ah—madam, yes—could I get some coffee? Just black, please."

"Oh, bluh," Jake said, momentarily sticking out his tongue. "I hate black coffee. It's so bitter."

"I rather like the taste myself," Daichi replied.

"So besides your choice in coffee, what kind of deck do you use? I didn't see your examination duel since I was busy with mine,"

"Well actually, that is implying I use just _one_ deck…"

* * *

"YOU USE _**SIX**_ DECKS?!"

* * *

"Aaaaah~" the blonde haired teenager let out a noise of contentment. She leaned over the railing on the deck of the boat and let the wind catch her hair. "The open ocean! The refreshing air! The beautiful sea creatures!"

"You really like the ocean, huh?" Sho asked from his seat on the floor of the deck. Eva turned around and smiled as she nodded enthusiastically.

"Si! My father always took me to the ocean when I was little. It was a bit chilly at times, but I really love being out here," she replied, directing her gaze towards the endless horizon. It would be at least an hour or so before they reached the Duel Academia mainland. Even though they got an hour head start, the plane would get there sooner because it traveled a lot quicker than a boat. "Oh, I mean to ask—where did Judai go?"

"He's below deck. He said he had to talk to… aah… _Yubel_," Sho replied, a little unsure of what he said in the last part. "I don't get it, though. How can he talk to a card?"

"I don't know," the Italian girl retreated from her place at tip of the deck to join Sho on the floor. "My father always used to tell stories like that, though! Of people talking to Duel Monsters, like they were really alive with spirits and everything!"

"Eva-san, aren't you a bit old for fairytales?"

"W-Well," she started sheepishly, scratching her cheek with her index finger. "But I'm just saying. What if they were true? You know, that would explain why Judai is going to talk to his Yubel card, or Yubel-spirit!"

"I guess it could be possible,"

"Aaaah! I want to know how it feels like to be able to talk to Duel Monsters! Don't you?"

"I haven't given it much thought, but I guess that would be really cool,"

"What would be really cool?" at that moment, the topic of their conversation appeared on deck. Eva quickly scooted over to make room for the new addition and Judai sat down with a nod of thanks.

"We were talking about communicating with Duel Monsters!" Eva said excitedly, a certain sparkle in her eyes. "And how cool it would be if I could actually talk to mine."

"It's awesome," Judai confirmed with a grin. "Yubel and I are partners. She's the best spirit anyone could ever ask for!"

"Oh Judai, you make me blush," the demon said with a smile. She hovered above and behind Judai, silently watching the proceedings to make sure no one intended to harm her beloved.

"You deserve it, _aibou_," he replied with a smile as he tilted his head back to look at her. Sho tilted his head in confusion as he could not see the aforementioned Yubel but decided not to comment. Eva's smile faltered just a bit, and she was focusing intently on where Judai's eyes were, but she could see nothing as well.

"It sounds like you two are close," she piped up with a smile, but it did not quite reach her ears. Yubel narrowed her eyes in suspicion, but Judai did not notice the bitter tone in Eva's voice as his partner had.

"Is something wrong, Yubel?" he asked.

She frowned but shook her head. "Nothing—we'll talk later, Judai," she said before disappearing back into the pouch of cards on his belt.

The rest of the boat ride went on in awkward silence.

* * *

"Marufuji, Sho," a staff member shouted out in the busy auditorium that was currently being used as a place to distribute uniforms and guides. The whole room seemed to go silent as the younger brother shuffled up to the table. All eyes were fixed on the boxes of uniforms behind the female attendant, trying to guess which one the staff member would pull out.

'_I-I can't handle this much attention_!' Sho cried in his head. '_Wh-Why am I always overshadowed by my onii-sama? I always try to work hard, but in the end it is onii-sama that gets all the praise. I studied long for my test, too, and I managed to get into Duel Academia, but—I can feel their judgment_.'

In the corner of his eye, he saw Judai waving to him with a smile on his face (he was still waiting in line for his name to be called). The brown- and orange-haired teenager cupped his hands over his mouth, but did not shout. His brown eyes sparkled.

"_Ganbare_, Sho!" he mouthed with a grin and a thumbs up. "You can do it!"

'_That's right! I have Judai to cheer me on! __**Ganbatte, boku**_!' he thought as a sense of calm washed over him. '_I studied for this test_!_ I will not be placed in Osiris Red_!'

"Marufuji Sho-_san_," the attendant said to snap him back to reality. Sho blushed in embarrassment, all confidence seeming to have been drained from his figure as he saw her scroll through his test results. Finally, she closed the window and turned around to rummage through the boxes. "Small, medium, or large?"

"S-Small," he said weakly. He watched her anxiously.

"Congratulations, Marufuji-_san_," she smiled as she turned around with the desired uniform. Sho drew in breath and looked like he would have a heart attack. "You have been placed in Ra Yellow."

"_Yatta_!" he shouted out loud in excitement. Once he realized what he did, he turned red and bowed deeply to the female staff member. "Tha-Thank you, miss!"

She smiled at his enthusiasm and held the uniform out for him to take. "No problem, Marufuji-_san_. _Gabatte, kimi_," she said softly. "This is your normal uniform. All students are required to wear these at all times. The exception is for Physical Education; your gym uniform will be delivered to your dorm room tomorrow."

He took his uniform and ran all the way to the changing rooms on the other side of the auditorium in excitement. Before he went in, Judai waved and grinned at him. Sho smiled back in happiness and relief.

"I did it, _aniki_!" he shouted without noticing what he had said. Judai looked confused but decided to take it in stride.

"Believe in yourself, Sho!" he shouted back. "You deserve Yellow!"

"Yuuki, Judai," was called, and so the brown- and orange-haired teenager made his way over to one of the staff members. A large man of at least six feet tall loomed over him. "Small, medium, or large?"

"I think I'm a medium," he said as he rocked on the heels of his feet. Behind him, Yubel seemed to be anticipating the result as well as she folded her arms anxiously.

The man turned around to fetch the appropriate uniform. "You have made it into Ra Yellow," he said gruffly and held out the uniform.

"Awesome!" he said with a grin. Judai turned around to Yubel and did his famous 'Gotcha' pose to her. "Your tutoring helped me out, Yubel! Thank you!"

"It was a pleasure," the demon smiled back warmly. Seeing Judai happy was something she would never trade for the world. "I would do anything for you, my beloved."

Judai did not hear the latter half of the last sentence, but Yubel felt content anyhow and disappeared back into her card. The man who handed him the uniform thought Judai was sending his wishes back home, and politely waited until the teenager turned around to claim his uniform. He grabbed it and made a break for the changing rooms.

When all of the uniforms were handed out and everyone had a chance to change, the new students were all ushered into a spare classroom where Principal Samejima gave them their orientation speech.

"Welcome, Duel Elites," the principal started with a smile. He was a middle-aged bald man with a beard. "You have all used your strength to pass through the doors of Duel Academia. I have no doubt that all of you will keep striving to be the best. You have been sorted into dorms based on your entrance exam grades. Even if you placed Obelisk Blue, always remember that the world is always bigger than you imagine. Strive to not be Blue, but to be the best duelist on this island."

Some of the students cheered and the principal waited patiently as the commotion died down. With a chuckle, he straightened his back and gestured to the teachers beside him on the raised platform in the front of the classroom. The lineup consisted of multiple different teachers, each dressed in a different colour that corresponded to a dorm (with the exception of a few).

"My name is Principal Samejima," he introduced. "Beside me here is Professor Chronos de Medici, the head professor and also the head of the Obelisk Blue boys' dorm. Professor Emi Ayukawa is the school nurse and your physical education instructor. She is also in charge of the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm. Professor Daitokuji teaches the science classes and he is the head of the Osiris Red dorm. Finally, Professor Kouji Satou teaches history. Depending on what classes you chose when you registered, your other professors will introduce themselves during your classes."

One of the professors in the back, with blue hair and a goatee, wearing a Ra Yellow teacher's uniform, looked like he was about to speak up. However, he never got the chance to as the principal continued on.

"So without further ado, welcome to Duel Academia! Your belongings should have been delivered to your rooms. Classes do not start until Monday, which is three days away. Take some time to familiarize yourself with the island and make some friends," Principal Samejima smiled and waved his hand to dismiss them. "Have fun studying and dueling!"

* * *

"Sho! Judai!"

"Sho-_kun_, Ichiban-_kun_."

The two in question turned around just in time to see a figure in blue run up and tackle them. Sho would have lost his balance if not for the figure's hand reaching out to crush him and Judai in a hug. The younger Marufuji felt like he was going to suffocate.

"Eva-_chan_, they can't breathe," the other person in yellow said.

"_Dio mio_," Eva said in embarrassment and laughed as she let the two go. She reached over and pecked both of them on the cheek before standing back. "_Ciao_! It's been a while!"

"It's only been three hours, Eva-_san_," Sho replied weakly as he wiped his cheek.

"Eva-_chan_, could you not do that?" Judai asked as he rubbed his cheek as well. Behind him, Yubel huffed and looked ready to kill. "It's really awkward when we've only known each other for a day. We haven't even gotten dinner yet!"

"Eh?" she asked, confused.

"In Japan, we greet each other by waving or bowing," Daichi said as he walked up to them. "I guess westerners are really… forward."

"Eh?!" she almost shrieked. "That's not what I meant! _Giuro su Dio_! _Non sono interessato in voi due a tutti_!"

"Why I do feel like I've just been insulted?" Sho asked.

"_Sto scherzando, Eva_," Judai replied smoothly.

"_Hai dovuto dirlo prima_," the blonde haired girl huffed.

A beat.

"Eh? Judai, you speak Italian?" Eva asked excitedly.

"Aa. My parents made me take a class in middle school," he said.

Just as Eva looked about to burst from excitement, as evidenced by the look in her eyes, Daichi interrupted. "So you're in Ra Yellow, Ichiban-kun," he commented. "Although it's not surprising considering your victory over Chronos-_sensei_."

Judai grinned and held up two fingers in a 'V' sign. "I studied hard as well," he added. "Or, well, Yubel made me study hard."

"Yubel?" the student genius blinked in confusion. He looked over to Eva and Sho for clarification, but they shook their heads and shrugged, as they did not know either. He gave Judai a hesitant and confused smile. "I'm sure she taught you well…?"

"Everything I know! Or, well, everything on the exam. It's like she knew what was going to be tested and what wasn't."

Unseen, the aforementioned duel monster spirit nodded wisely. Yubel wanted Judai to pass no matter what, since the teenager would be happy if he did. She had done her own studying on the test subjects—studying, as in taking matters into her own hands (Kaiba Corporation had a few members hospitalized for a little while).

"Oh, Eva-_san_, you're in Obelisk Blue!" Sho said as he finally noticed. The Italian girl nodded and twirled around once. "Congratulations!"

"Well, actually," she said sheepishly as she scratched her cheek. "Only Obelisk Blue has facilities equipped for females, so all girls go into Obelisk Blue no matter what. Aha… haha…"

"Speaking of, how did you all do on your written exams?" Daichi asked. "I got a perfect score."

"Seventy-three percent!" Judai replied happily.

"S-Sixty five percent," Sho mumbled, ashamed.

"How about you, Eva-_chan_?" the Ra Yellow genius turned over to the Italian girl, only to see her frozen in place. "Is something wrong, Eva-_chan_?"

"N-Nothing!" she hurriedly replied with her arms over her chest in an 'x' formation. She turned around from the conversation and leaned against the wall in despair. The proctor told her that if the other dorms were equipped with female facilities, she would have been placed in Osiris Red because of her horrible written exam score (out of one hundred and eighty questions, she only got eighty of them right—that wasn't even fifty percent).

"So what did you get?" Judai asked curiously.

She snapped around in surprise. "Ni-Ninety three percent!"

"_Sugoi_, Eva-_san_," Sho said as he looked at her in wonder. "I heard the education system in Europe is very rigorous. It must have been easy for you!"

She shifted her eyes away shamefully.

Suddenly, Judai started looking around frantically. The others were about to ask if he lost something, but he shushed them and then started running in the opposite direction. Knowing that a 'wait!' would be lost on him, the three followed behind at a slower pace.

"This way, this way!" he shouted to them as he stopped near an opening in the wall that led somewhere else. Getting a bit impatient even though they were only a little ways away from him, he ran in. "Look at this!"

"Judai/Aniki/Ichiban-_kun_—!"

When the three students finally caught up to him, out of breath and looking rather frazzled, they finally saw what had caught the brown- and orange-haired teen's attention. It was a duel field, equipped with the latest sound and graphics technology. Multiple rows of seats were arranged in a circle around the field for spectator uses.

"This place is incredible!" Judai breathed in awe, and the others could not help but agree. He walked up to the raised field and was about to climb on top of it, when a voice stopped him.

"Oi! What do you think you're doing?" a boy wearing glasses with wavy blue bangs that framed his face said. He and another, much bulkier guy with spiked brown hair walked up to the quartet. They were Obelisk Blue students.

"Just about to test out the duel field," Judai replied in a carefree manner. When he turned around to face them, the bulkier guy seemed to recognize him.

"Hey, it's you, Number 39 who beat Chronos-sensei!" he said and then turned around to the stands. "Manjoume-_san_, he's here!"

"Number 39?" Sho asked quietly to the other two.

"The numbers we were given in rank of our scores," Daichi replied in the same quiet manner. "The lower the number, the higher you rank. I'm number one—on the rankings. In truth, Judai should be, since he beat a professor."

"Ah! I think I'm… number 44."

Once again, Eva avoided their eyes. Seeing as she did not even score fifty percent, she was number 96 out of the one hundred and ten that took the exam and managed to get into Duel Academia. It felt good knowing there were people who scored below her, but it did not help much.

A boy also in the Obelisk Blue uniform stepped down from the stands. He had black hair that was spiked in every possible direction and extremely pale skin. He held his chin high and clasped his hands behind his back, as if he was some powerful authority figure. Eva was beginning to think he was, until her mind finally reeled at the name.

"_Manjoume_?" she blurted out in disbelief. "Of the _Manjoume Group_?"

"The exact same one," the guy with the blue hair said in pride. He gestured to the pale-skinned male in a way reminiscent of hero worship. "Manjoume Jun, the star of the middle school class, high marks on everything. Future Duel King and part of the legendary Manjoume Group."

"That can't be right," Judai commented with a frown on his face (somehow during the blue haired boy's explanation, he had climbed onto the field and was already on the other side). He walked back over and crossed his arms. "There's a contradiction in your statement. Manjoume _can't_ be the future Duel King."

"And why not?" the bulkier boy asked with a huff, obviously displeased.

"Because _I'm_ going to be the future Duel King!" he grinned.

"Why you—"

"Enough," Manjoume said in a calm and controlled voice. His followers backed down without a fight and he made his way down the stands and onto ground level with the rest of them. Even though he was now standing on the same level of ground as them, he was still tall and radiated authority and arrogance. "I'm curious, about the boy who beat Chronos-sensei. The highest dorm you can directly go into without first taking the adjoining middle school is Ra Yellow. No doubt that you will move on to Obelisk Blue, if your victory was not a fluke."

"I'm plenty skilled enough," Judai retorted with the slightest hints of a frown. Something about Manjoume rubbed him the wrong way. "In fact, I could take you on right now, Manjoume."

"Manjoume-_san da_," the pale-skinned boy corrected with irritation.

"You already have a title?" Judai blinked. "Manjoume Thunder. Sounds nice."

"_Aa_, no, Judai, I think he meant that you should call him by Manjoume-_san_," Sho clarified.

"Oh!" he blinked as he finally came to the realization. "There's no need to be formal, Manjoume-_kun_."

"Manjoume-_san da_!" the black-haired boy almost shouted.

"What do you guys think you're doing? You're making a scene," a new voice interrupted and the surrounding tension in the air snapped in half. Manjoume, who seemed to recognize the voice, sneered and turned around to face the entrance of the duel field.

"I don't have time for this. We're leaving," he said with a 'tsk' sound as his two lackeys hurriedly followed in step behind him.

"I hope he didn't cause you too much trouble," the same voice said after Manjoume had left. The quartet turned around to see an extremely buxom blonde girl with hazel eyes, wearing the same Obelisk Blue uniform that Eva was currently sporting. "He tends to be like that."

"I could have handled myself," Judai protested. He sighed and then rubbed the back of his neck in disappointment. Suddenly, he looked up with surprise that easily morphed into a grin. "But thanks for butting in. Doing that so unexpectedly, though, did you fall in love at first sight?"

"_A-Aniki_!" Sho seemed mortified. "That's too forward!"

The girl across from them laughed with a spark in her eyes. "Think what you what, Yuuki Judai," she said with mirth. "But I'm here to inform you that you will be late to the opening ceremonies for your dorm."

"I almost forgot!" Daichi suddenly shouted and grabbed Sho and Judai. "We've got to hurry or we'll miss any announcements."

"And the food!" Judai added as he was dragged away.

"And the food," Daichi agreed, although with much less enthusiasm as the brown- and orange-haired teenager within his grasp.

As the boys disappeared down the hall, Eva just shook her head with a quirk of her lips and then turned back around to the girl with the same hair colour as her. "I'm Eva del Sarto, um… would that be Del Sarto Eva?" she hesitantly introduced herself with a bow that neared ninety degrees. Her upbringing in Italy told her that she should have held out her hand and waited for a handshake, but Japan was different.

The girl in front of her mirrored her bow. "My name is Tenjouin Asuka," she stated clearly and with confidence. "The opening feast for our dorm should start soon as well. If you would like, we could walk together."

"Yes, of course!" Eva agreed readily.

Asuka walked past her and started making her way over in the direction of the dorm and the Italian girl followed like a loyal puppy. Walking side by side, it was easy to tell that Eva was taller than Asuka by a few inches (and they both had the same heels on). Whereas Asuka's hair was straight and fell down to her mid-back, Eva's was wavy and reached her hips.

'_She's so pretty_,' Eva thought as they walked. '_So full of confidence and sophistication, too. Aah, I wish I could be like her_.'

And so began Eva's idol worship of one Tenjouin Asuka.

* * *

"Judai, we need to talk," Yubel said as soon as the Ra Yellow student stepped into his room in awe. The Yuuki explored the large, spacious room in earnest, putting away Yubel's words for a little while as he drowned in fascination.

"They already unpacked everything for me, too!" he exclaimed as he opened the closet to see his clothes neatly folded and hung. On his bed was a yellow trimmed duel disk along with a complimentary booster pack. He grinned and jumped on his bed, marveling at the fact that it was extremely bouncy as well. The booster pack fell on the floor. "Aw."

"Judai," Yubel said again, this time firmer. He sighed and fell on his back, spread eagle on the bed.

"Is something wrong?" he asked the spirit who decided to take a seat on the bed next to him. Yubel folded her arms and seemed to think for a moment.

"Under the school. There's a powerful presence under the school," she started slowly, closing her eyes and opening the one that split vertically on her forehead. Her third eye glowed and suddenly she materialized. The mattress sunk to accommodate the new weight. "It calls out to me. Can you feel it?"

Judai let out a soft chuckle and repositioned his head so that it lied comfortably on Yubel's lap. She either did not notice or did not mind, but he guessed it was the latter. "It's a spark, something I can barely hone in on," he said as he gazed at the ceiling. Yubel's human hand played with the tresses of his hair as spirit and partner sat in blissful silence for a while. "I guess that just means you need to teach me more."

She cracked a smile. "Of course, Juu-chan," she cooed.

He swatted her hand away with a pout. "I thought I told you to stop calling me that. I'm no longer a kid," he whined. She chuckled and leaned down to peck his forehead.

"To me you are," she teased and he stuck his tongue out at her. She laughed and started to disappear back into spirit form. Judai's head fell onto the mattress and he winced at the sudden change of elevation. "I'll be recharging, _anata_."

He waved her off with a pout and she could not help but laugh again.

As if on cue, his PDA began ringing. With a confused look, Judai sat up and fetched the device to answer the call. Once he pressed the answer button, Manjoume's face popped up on the screen with a smirk. "Oi, number 39," he started. "I'll be waiting at the Duel Field at midnight. We're dueling by ante, so if I win I get your rarest card. Come if you're courageous enough."

"Of course I will," he replied confidently. Manjoume's smirk only widened before he dropped the call. Judai threw his PDA on the bed and reached over to the booster pack on the floor.

"Aniki!" Sho's voice came from outside his door. He blinked and got off the bed to go and answer it. The door opened to reveal Sho's slightly impatient face. "We're going to be late for the opening feast!"

"Eh?!" he shouted in surprise. He did not keep track of the time as well as he thought he did. "Hang on a second! Let me put on my shoes!"

"_Ikou_!" Sho ushered and then the two dashed off towards the cafeteria.

* * *

"Asuka? Where are you going?" Eva asked with her hair still dripping wet from the bath. She wrung out her hair to the best of her strength and watched, satisfied, as the most of the water came out.

Asuka turned around, dressed in full uniform and her hair already dried. "If I know Manjoume-_san_, then he's already issued a challenge to Judai-_san_," she explained. "It's best if I hurry along and try to stop it. There could be horrible consequences if they get caught."

"Eh? A-_Aspetti_, Asuka!" she said as the other began walking away. Eva hurriedly dressed in her uniform and grabbed a towel as she ran after her. The two girls made their way into the school without much difficulty as they snuck along the walls and avoided any flashlights.

"Over there," Asuka said and pointed in the direction of the duel field. She broke into a run in that direction, and Eva had to pull in all of her self-control to not try and shout after her. If she shouted, then she would have alerted the night watch, and the last thing she needed to be was suspended—or worse, _expelled_—before classes even began.

When the two girls finally made it to the duel field, the duel between Manjoume and Judai had already started.

* * *

Judai Yuuki: 4000 LP  
Jun Manjoume: 4000 LP

"Oh good, they just started," Asuka breathed in relief. She put her hands on her hips and sucked in breath. "You two! Stop this duel this instant!"

The two boys on the field staggered and looked at her with surprise.

"A-Asuka-_san_!" Sho said in shock.

"I'm here as well," Eva piped up.

"And Eva-san," he remedied.

"I'm sorry, no can do," Judai smiled sheepishly at the Obelisk Blue girl. Asuka narrowed her eyes in a posture that clearly told him to explain why. "I can't back down from a challenge. _Gomen ne_, Asuka-_chan_. At the very least, you'll see me beat him! This'll be quick, one turn only, promise!"

"Honestly, Aniki," Sho sighed in exasperation. The two on the field turned their attention back to each other.

"Your brother is really reckless," Asuka said, but did not try to stop the duel again. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wanted to see how this turned out as well.

"Judai-_kun_ isn't my _real_ brother," Sho replied with a nervous smile. He turned his attention back to the duel. "How do I explain this? He's like… a brother to me in my heart."

Asuka donned a confused expression, but did not pry further.

On the field, Manjoume currently had _Reborn Zombie_ (1000/**1600**) in face-up defense position and a set card in his spells and traps zone. His turn had just ended, and Judai drew to signal the beginning of his.

'_Yatta_!' he thought as he stared at the cards in his hand. '_I just drew _Chaos-End Knight_, and with his effect I should be able to quickly summon Yubel—_' His thought process halted as he went over his thoughts again. '_No, I can't. Yubel is resting. I can't disturb her. Time for Plan B_.'

"At this time I activate my continuous trap card*, _Deck Lockdown_!" Manjoume said as the card revealed itself. The graphic was of a deck bound by chains. "You cannot special summon from your deck, and you can only draw during your draw phase and nothing else."

"Wait, doesn't that mean—" the gears in Eva's head began turning.

"He's locked down _Yubel_," Sho said in a mixture of awe and fear. "Judai can only summon her by tributing, now. And since _Yubel_ is a level ten monster…"

"He will have to wait a while before she can be summoned, if he even draws her," Asuka finished. "In short, he's bought himself some time. No doubt Manjoume came with a deck specifically made to counter Judai's."

To their surprise, however, Judai began laughing. "Nice try, Manjoume, but _Yubel_ is taking a power nap, so I can't call on her for help," he explained. Everyone in the audience exchanged looks of confusion but no one bothered to pry. "But _Yubel_ isn't the only strong monster in my deck, and I'll show you!"

"I activate _Polymerization_!" he said as he stuck the spell card into his spell and trap zone. A swirling purple vortex appeared above him. "I fuse _Elemental HERO Avian_ and _Elemental HERO Burstinatrix!_"

A lady wearing red spandex that barely covered her torso in its flame design appeared along with a man in green who wore a mask. He also had wings. The two of them jumped up into the vortex and were sucked in.

"Fusion summon!" Judai said as the vortex cracked and swirled. "_Hero of the night who goes unnoticed by civil eyes, appear before us_!_ Elemental HERO Flame Wingman_!"

Out of the vortex flew a reptilian-like man with his right side red and his left side green. He only had one white feathered wing and a red tail snaked behind him. His right arm was in the shape of a red dragon head while his left arm looked completely normal.

_Elemental HERO Flame Wingman_: **2100 ATK** / 1200 DEF

"What kind of monster is this?" Manjoume hissed, clearly unprepared for what Judai had summoned. He thought Judai ran a DARK attribute deck made to specifically summon _Yubel_, but it looked like he was wrong.

"A hero," Judai elaborated with a grin. Manjoume only gritted his teeth in frustration. "Next, I activate the spell card _Assault Armor_! By equipping this to _Flame Wingman_, he gains 300 ATK. However, I'm going to send it to the Graveyard to activate its other effect. _Elemental HERO Flame Wingman_ gets to attack twice this turn!"

Judai's grin only got bigger. "_Elemental HERO Flame Wingman_, attack his _Reborn Zombie_! _Flame Shoot_!"

The green and red monster spread his one wing and flew over to the other side of the field. He pointed the muzzle of his dragon arm at the zombie as if pointing a gun, and then a fireball shot out to blow the zombie into pieces.

"But wait, there's more!" Judai went on. "_Elemental HERO Flame Wingman_'s effect activates. When he destroys a monster, you take the destroyed monster's original attack."

_Flame Wingman_ now aimed at Manjoume who looked positively shell-shocked. Another fireball shot of the dragon's mouth and Manjoume staggered back a few paces.

Judai Yuuki: 4000 LP  
Jun Manjoume: 3000 LP

"Once again, _Flame Wingman_!" Judai hollered as he jumped up in the air. "_Flame Shoot_!"

Manjoume had some sense to dodge the fireball this time, but it hit the box which displayed his life points, which immediately dropped down by _Flame Wingman_'s attack.

Judai Yuuki: 4000 LP  
Jun Manjoume: 900 LP

"Just one turn, you said?" Manjoume mocked as he dusted off his uniform with a sneer. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Number 39. As you can see, I still have life points."

But Judai's grin was still in place. "Activate quick-play spell card, _De-Fusion_," he said calmly despite his excited eyes. _Elemental HERO Flame Wingman_ was sucked back into the purple vortex, which spit out _Elemental HERO Burstinatrix_ and _Elemental HERO Avian_. "And it's still my battle phase."

Manjoume swore.

Asuka suddenly looked startled, and Eva blinked in surprise.

"Is something wrong, Asuka?" she asked tentatively.

"We need to leave. Now," she said loudly and clearly. "The guardsmen are coming, and if we're caught using the equipment outside of the normal times, we could get expelled. Not to mention it's past curfew."

"Eh?! There's such a rule?" Judai said in surprise. Asuka sighed and brought out her PDA.

"Didn't you read the rulebook?"

"No…"

"In any case, we need to leave, _aniki_!" Sho said and pointed towards the exit. Judai pouted but followed without another word as the two Ra Yellows and two Obelisk Blues hurriedly exited from the field and the building.

"Che," Manjoume deactivated his duel disk and hopped off of the duel field. He began walking away without another word. Saved by a hair.

'_I can't believe Asuka-san watched that duel. I'll crush that Number 39 and earn back my dignity_.'

* * *

**Extended Author's Note:**

* - Yes, I do know that it's actually a spell card, but I had to change it to fit the rhythm of the duel.

Well, here goes a chapter after almost a whole year of not updating. In the next chapter, I'm going to briefly _skim_ over episode three, and then skip all the way to episode twenty-nine. I actually want the plot to start because it's easier to write when you want to start fleshing out the plot. Besides, I don't think people want to read everything that the group does, because writing it is extremely boring by itself. That means, however, that Rei Saotome will be introduced later in the story than was originally intended. Creative license, for the win!

In any case, I know for a fact that the next chapter of this story will not be out until early to mid July. I have exams this week along with the two weeks after, and then it's summer. I want to sleep in for summer and do nothing for the first month. Writing this whole chapter took me a week, between studying and schoolwork. Since I will have tons of free time during summer, I guarantee the next chapter of this story will be out by August 6th. On August 8th I leave for Otakon, so I want to get everything out of the way.

(Also, for those curious, what Eva said was "I swear! I'm not even interested in any of you!")


End file.
